The first gothic princesses
by Captain leon
Summary: The ultimate guide! A sample of the first film and TV actresses who influenced the creation of Gothic culture as such.
1. Introduction

_Translation done with DeepL and my humble knowledge of English. Forgive any errors in grammar and punctuation, thank you._

 **INTRODUCCIÓN**

Hello, this work is not intended to be an extensive thesis on Gothic culture. The Gothic can be understood as a very extensive sub-culture with several sub-classifications, so many that they even clash in aesthetics, musical tastes, philosophy and so on. As far as covering everything that refers to the Gothic from its origins to the present day would comprise many chapters.

Just in this place I will show the first women who appeared on the big screen and on TV, be it these real action plays or cartoons. Not all of them, only the first ones or those who drink from pre-Gothic influences such as Edgar Allan Poe's poems or other references.

Why cinema and TV? I'm sure you're wondering. It turns out that although Gothic culture has been influenced from the dawn of the fall of Rome, through the Renaissance and Gothic architecture, the novel the castle of Otranto, the Victorian era, the novels of Dracula and Frankenstein. It is with cinema and television that this culture took its most aesthetic aspects and with which it is related today, at least in the imagination of the general population.

Forgive me, but I'm going to be a purist. Gothic culture emerged as such in the United Kingdom first and almost at the same time was followed by the United States.

In the United Kingdom, the aesthetics of post-punk music would give rise to Gothic rock in the early 1980s and it was in July 1982 that the Batcave Club in London welcomed this sub-culture that was then called: batcavers.

In the United States, with only months of delay and not derived, but parallel to what was happening in the United Kingdom, the aesthetics of death-rock music would originate Gothic rock in New York, its members and fans being called: Gothic.

It is for this reason that I take the year 1982 as a reference. Anything that comes after this year would be called Gothic proper. And everything before 1982, no matter how much it influenced the Gothic culture, I will call it pre-Gothic.

 **CONTINUARÁ…**


	2. Theda Bara

**THEDA BARA**

Theda Bara was the stage name for Theodosia Burr Goodman, born in the United States in 1885.

Of Jewish ancestry, she decided to leave school and become an actress and dyed her blond hair black.

She took part in several small roles but the film that catapulted her to success was the 1915 play: "A fool there was".

This silent film brings us the first influence on Gothic culture: a fatal woman, dressed in black, a man-eater vampire. In fact, with Theda Bara, the term "Vamp" was born, short for Vampire and currently refers to two meanings: Dracula style Vampiresa; Or unscrupulous woman who takes advantage of men and their money.

And it is this last concept that is the focus of the film A fool there was, an image that would accompany the actress for the rest of her career.

Of course, at the time Theodosia Burr Godman didn't have a stage name. It was the film studios that "created it". Theda, is an anagram of the word Death; Bara, is the Arabic word for "death".

And so was born the first pre-Gothic: Thera Bara.

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Curiosities:

The famous and very cinematic phrase "Kiss me, fool" was first used in the history of cinema by Theda Bara.

Although Theda Bara happens to be an anagram for Death and Death in Arabic, Theda is actually short for Theodosia and Bara was her maternal grandmother's middle name.

Contrary to the image of a "vamp" in her films, Theodosia was in fact an extremely shy and quiet woman in her private life.

Of her more than 40 films, only three and a half remain, the others fall into the category of Lost Film; among these lost masterpieces is precisely his most famous film: Cleopatra.

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Quotes:

I have the face of a vampire, but the heart of a feminist.

People blindly believe what they see on the screen. They thinks that we artists are identical to our characters. They have come to tear up posters with my image because of that, even once a woman called the police because her son was talking to me.

I'm doomed to keep playing vampire roles all my life. I think it's because humanity needs to be taught the same lesson of morality over and over again.

CONTINUARÁ…


	3. A rare comic strip

**THE FIRST GOTHIC PRINCESSES**

 **A rare comic strip**

 ****In 1938, a comic strip was published in the U.S. newspapers that made fun of the style and aesthetics of the typical American family of that country.

More than a comic strip, they were actually single-panel drawings, drawn by Charles Addams for various media outlets, especially The New Yorker.

And what was the satire of the American family? For It focused on the dark and the macabre, and the members of this curious family did not seem to be aware of the repellent effect they caused to their neighbors.

A curious fact is that these Addams are actually a small branch of an entire family clan scattered throughout the country. Yes, there are many Addams families scattered throughout the United States, and who knows, perhaps even abroad.

Another curious fact results in the lack of names of the members of this family, since for many years none of them had names. They were only baptized by the author when Charles Addams "drawings" became so popular that the production of the TV series was prepared, only in 1964!

This comic strip is important because it will influence pre-Gothic actresses from the 1950s, who in turn will greatly influence the creation of the Gothic sub-culture.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	4. Vampira

**THE FIRST GOTHIC PRINCESSES**

 **VAMPIRA**

Vampira was the name of the exotic and macabre character who would play Maila Elizabeth Syrjäniemi, born in Finland in 1922.

At the age of 17 she arrived in the United States, where she would participate in film productions and modeling. It was at this time that she acquired her stage name: Maila Nurmi.

The creation of the character of Vampira was more a casual than a planned event. It all happened in 1953, when Maila Nurmi went to a costume party, more specifically: the annual Caribe Masquerade.

Maila Nurmi was disguised as the mother of the Charles Addams cartoon: The Addams (remember that in 1953, the characters in the comic strip still had no names).

Her stunning image of a tight black dress, long black hair, and very pale skin caught the attention of a television producer, who offered the actress the chance to present horror movies for a television network.

Vampira hardly ever comes to light as it seems that Maila Nurmi was not interested and it was very difficult for the producer to contact her. Fortunately, after many attempts, a contract was signed.

Interestingly, Vampira's name was created by Maila Nurmi's own husband, Dean Riesner. Very appropriate choice since the exotic nature of the name guaranteed the success of the pre-Gothic fiction character.

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Vampira aired on April 30, 1954, on the show Dig me later, Vampira. A show that was soon replaced on May 1, 1954, by a more official one: The Vampira Show.

The show was the first in history to feature horror films. Vampira was always accompanied by her pet: a huge spider named Rollo, to whom she spoke. In the Vampira show, she came and went on a stage full of cobwebs and fog, offered jokes and macabre twists, and instead of autographs, she offered epitaphs.

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The fame of the show was such that several impersonators and other characters were created to present horror films or other genres.

Vampira was a resounding success and as an actress, Maila Nurmi, got several leading roles in several films.

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Curiosity:

Maila Nurmi had a romantic relationship with James Dean, but then they had a troubled separation just before the death of the young and mythical actor. Since then, rumors had it that Vampira had put a curse on James Dean, causing his death.

The character of Vampira is a clear influence for another famous pre-Gothic character: Elvira.

 **CONTINUARÁ…**


	5. Morticia Addams

**THE FIRST GOTHIC PRINCESSES**

 **MORTICIA ADDAMS**

Carolyn Sue Jones, was an actress born in the United States in 1930, who throughout her career did not adopt any artistic name.

With an unhealthy constitution, asthma greatly reduced her social activities as a child, but when she could she went to the cinema, which was her real passion.

Unlike the two actresses mentioned in the previous sections, Carolyn Sue Jones was already a great actress who won several awards for her films. Of course, her weak health continued to accompany her until she even lost roles that would give great recognition to other actresses who replaced her. All this before playing her most remembered character: Morticia Addams.

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Let's remember that at the time of the broadcast of the television series in 1964, none of the characters of the Addams family created in 1938 had a name. It was Charles Addams himself who named all the characters, as well as giving them a background or family history.

According to Charles Addams, the name Morticia implied "Death" (an obvious influence of Theda Bara), and derived from the word "mors", which in turn derived from the word "mortis", the Latin word for Death. Or it could also come from the word "mortician."

As for the family history created by Charles Addams: Morticia's maiden name is Frump, and the history of her family's side goes back to Salem, at the time of the Witch Hunt in that North American town. While the family on her husband's side comes from Spain (grandmother Addams moves in with Gomez/Homero when he is just six years old)

Morticia also has a twin sister named Ophelia, which is practically her opposite image since she appears to be normal and dresses like a Beatnick (the philosophical current that preceded the hippies). Ophelia was also characterized (for obvious reasons) by Carolyn Sue Jones.

She cultivates carnivorous plants, practices the Japanese art of ikebana, although in a rare way as she only uses the thorny stems of roses and plays the shamisen, a Japanese stringed instrument.

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The character of Morticia Addams, had much influence on what would be the Gothic sub-culture. Very white or pale skin, long black hair and a tight dress with a very open V-neck, which ended in a hem that simulated the tentacles of an octopus, this whole set of a jet black color.

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The Adams family show, aired on the air on September 18, 1964, was a resounding success from the very beginning, firstly because of the success of the cast, especially Carolyn Sue Jones, who had a lot of previous fame, and secondly because of the almost thirty years of publication of Charles Addams' cartoons.

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Curiosities:

Despite the existence of color television, the Addams family's show was broadcast entirely in black and white, to save on costs, since the producers' decision to hire a heavyweight star like Carolyn Sue Jones cost them too much, but in the end this decision was very profitable economically speaking.

The Frump family, of which Morticia belongs, is part of the Addams clan. This indicates that it is the custom of the clan to marry blood relatives to each other. This would explain the various deformities in the numerous members of the Addams clan, along with their eccentricities of personality (Although in real life the deformities and insanity caused by consanguineous marriages are not scientifically proven, at least not fully).

It was Ophelia Frunt, who was to marry Gomez/Homero, but in the end she became discouraged, so it was her sister Morticia who ended up marrying him. Fortunately, they barely saw each other and it was love at first sight.

The decision to hire a major actress like Carolyn Sue Jones would influence a rival production company to do the same for her series, which was to be the answer to the Addams family. I mean Yvone De Carlo, in the Munster family series.

 **CONTINUARÁ…**


	6. Wednesday Addams

**THE FIRST GOTHIC PRINCESSES**

 **WEDNESDAY ADDAMS**

Gomez and Morticia's daughter is Wednesday Addams, who was originally played by Lisa Loring, who was born in Kwajalein, Marshall Islands in 1958.

She grew up in Hawaii, was a model at the tender age of three and in 1964 performed in her first television series. That same year she was hired to play the Addams family's under-six-year-old daughter.

Let's remember that the daughter, like all the other members of her family, didn't have names until Charles Addams gave them to her in 1964, when the characters were created in 1938!

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As the character's costume features the typical flared suit for kindergarten girls, although this is dark and the white collar of the shirt is English, but exaggerated in size, perhaps reminiscent of the way the first English settlers dressed, including those living in the town of Salem, from which the branch of his mother's family comes.

Long socks such as pantyhose and shoes are also dark colored. This whole ensemble was an influence on the later creation of the Gothic sub-culture.

As aspects of personality, we have a girl who, although tender in her behavior, sometimes comes out with macabre twists and turns, all according to the environment in which she lives and the family she has had. It's different from the version played in 1991 by Christina Ricci, because apart from being 12 years old, she has a darker, even sadistic personality.

Wednesday Addams (Merlina in South America, and Miércoles in Spain) has artistic skills, more specifically in painting. In addition, She has great skill in a Japanese martial art, we would say absurd in Judo, since She can defeat her father with a clean hand, which shows that she is very strong.

Wednesday has many pets like piranhas, and others, however, show a predilection for spiders (clear influence from Vampira). In addition, she almost always wears a little doll that dresses like her, but which has no head and is called Marie Antoinette, like the last queen of France and who died guillotined.

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Curiosities:

Her taste for judo was surely passed on to her by her mother Morticia, who practices ikebana and plays shamisen, both of which come from Japan.

Her strength is surely inherited from her aunt Ophelia, who could throw her brother-in-law Gomez from a great distance.

The Addams are wealthy and practice a Japanese martial art, and this fact was certainly an influence on the 2016 film: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Where they clearly state that "the rich practiced karate, and the wise kung fu"

The Addams' wealth would influence another family whose member is a Gothic girl: The Deetzes, whose daughter Lydia Deetz is the Gothic character in Tim Burton's film Beetlejuice. In fact, the name Lydia comes to mean the ancient city of Lydia, which was the first place in the world where coins were minted, so its name would also mean wealth.

The Addams are so rich that in the cartoons they are the real owners of New York's central park, and in fact their home is in the middle of the park in the musical that premiered on Broadway.

Wednesday's mania for playing at beheading her doll, which by the way is called Marie Antoinette, surely comes from the stories that Grandmother Addams tells her, since although she and her son came from Spain, the great-great-grandmother of Gomez/Homero's mother, she lived during the French Revolution and survived the time of the Robespierre terror.

Wednesday's character seems to have inspired the creation of Anita (Donovan's companion in Dark Stalkers' videogames and anime), the girl who always wears a decapitated doll. It is of a sombre character and like Wednesday she wears a pair of braids as a hairstyle.

Chistina Ricci, who played her later, acted curiously with Winona Ryder in the film: Sirens with the singer Cher who played the bad mother. Curious because it would be Winona Ryder, who would later play Lydia Deetz, the Gothic girl from Tim Burton's movie Beetlejuice.

 **CONTINUARÁ…**


	7. Lily Munster

**THE FIRST GOTHIC PRINCESSES**

 **LILY MUNSTER**

Yvonne De Carlo, was the stage name for Margaret Yvonne Middleton, born in 1922 in Canada.

Her mother enrolled her in a dance academy and at 18, she and her mother moved to Hollywood.

Her career was successful from the beginning and she participated in several mega-productions of the time, becoming an internationally renowned film actress.

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It was the Hollywood War of Studies that led to the creation of the Munster family.

The Addams family was created by the ABC studio. This made Universal Pictures' executives uncomfortable, as many of the characters (especially the Long Butler) resembled characters who until recently had exclusive rights, such as Frankenstein. Universal decided to fight back and with the help of the CBS study it was planned to create a series but equal, at least of similar characteristics to the Addams.

It was for this reason that both the Addams and the Munsters not only premiered the same year, but the same month and less than a week apart! The Addams family (18 September 1964); The Munster family (24 September 1964)

Source: The Addams family (18 September 1964); The Munster family (24 September 1964)

As the show was practically a competition to the other Addams, it was decided to opt for the same formula, hiring a very famous actress for the role of mother. As with Carolyn Sue Jones of the Addams family, all the executives and casting were nervous that Yvonne De Carlo would not adapt well to participate in a small comedy series for television. However, like the rival series, the choice was the right one.

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The character of Lily Munster has her name from the plants of death: Lily (lilies). It is also a vague reference to Lilith, the succubus of Hebrew mythology.

Yvonne De Carlo not only represented a mother who brought calm and control to her family of monsters, in real life and within the film set to the same role. Butch Patrick himself, who played Eddie Munster, told the press that Yvonne De Carlo was the mother figure he never had both on and off stage, since his real mother didn't care much for him.

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As with the Addams family, a whole background or personal story was created for the characters of the Munster family.

The character of Yvonne De Carlo, has a noble title, so her full name (maiden name) would be: Lily Dracula, Countess of Shroudshire.

Born in 1827, daughter of Count Vladimir Dracula (grandfather Munster), and his wife number 166 (simply called "the grandmother"). She and her father lived in Transylvania (a region of Romania), later she met Herman Munster and married him in 1865.

The Munsters moved to the United States on the 40's and adopted Marilyn. In the 1950s she gave birth to her only son Eddie Munster.

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Curiosities:

Despite rumors, Eddie Munster is not adopted as Marilyn, as Lily has a werewolf brother who appeared in a chapter.

Perhaps this was the inspiration for the series of films "Underworld" with Kate Beckinsale. In which the werewolf and vampire race come from a branch called the Corvinos.

Unlike Morticia. Lily Munster, more often performs more mundane activities such as sweeping and dusting the house (she has no servant), so that middle-class families in the United States would feel more represented by the Munsters than by the Addams, and thus have a higher rating.

To counteract the women's emancipation movements of the 1960s ´s the Hollywood producers made Lily have a lot of jobs throughout the series, in which she failed miserably and then became a housewife again.

Morticia Addams had the ability to "smoke", which consisted of exhaling smoke through her lungs without having to inhale any cigarettes. Lily Munster, on the other hand, could float or levitate.

Lily Munster in the first few episodes, she played the harp. Here again we see the Hollywood Studios war, as Morticia did the same.

To give her a more maternal attitude (and therefore make her more loved by the children than Morticia), the study allowed her to reflect in the mirrors, come out in the sunlight and not need to drink blood like her father.

In the original pilot episode it's not Yvonne De Carlo, but Joan Marshall, who plays the Munster family's mother, and this character is not named Lily, but Phoebe (name perhaps inspired by Ophelia, Morticia's sister).

Phoebe's character was rejected for two reasons: Her character was a clear imitation of Morticia Addams; moreover, she was more vinegary in character and fought constantly with her husband and son. The executives saw that this image would not be appealing to the tele-audience. Remember, they wanted to beat the rival studio.

As with the Addams, the series was broadcast in black and white to save costs by hiring Yvonne De Carlo.

 **CONTINUARÁ…**


	8. A rare film

**THE FIRST GOTHIC PRINCESSES**

 **A rare film**

As we indicated earlier with one of the most famous pre-Gothic actresses: Vampira (April 30, 1954), the series of imitators who tried to emulate the original television phenomenon was relatively extensive due to the popularity of the show. None of these actresses became famous enough to serve as references and recordings of the television shows (if they had any) were lost forever.

Let us remember that the aesthetics presented by Vampira was not yet an official fashion of the Gothic movement, since even this sub-culture did not yet exist. However, the comedy approach with its mixture of macabre themes was so popular that it was extended for a whole decade to culminate in the biggest television premieres in ten years: The Addams family (September 18, 1964); The Munster family (September 24, 1964).

And it was also at the end of the 1960s that the polemic and controversial film director Roman Polanski would create one of his strangest works: The Fearless Vampire Killers or Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck (November 13, 1967)

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Polanski's film was intended to be a parody of the vampire theme, however, the film had so many themes of sexuality and macabre atmosphere that it ended up being a reference for what would become the future Gothic sub-culture.

The extraordinary beauty of Sharon Tate (who does not act as a pre-Gothic) and her characterization in the film, was the inspiration for the actress who would become an actress divided between the pre-Gothic and the Gothic period: Elvira.

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As a final note, I could say that the film, as ridiculous as it may sound, evolved over time. By the standards of the 60's ´s with the sexual revolution and so on, this film was under the radar. However, in the current times (2017) when Hollywood now offers us ghoulish characters (vampires, werewolves, zombies) of a sweet nature with movies like Twilight or My Boyfriend is a Zombie, the movie with the sensual Sharon Tate seems to be too high-pitched both in the aspect of sexuality and in the macabre.

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Curiosity:

The most famous scene (apart from the filming where you see the beautiful Sharon Tate cleaning herself in the bathtub) is the vampire dance. Curious because it did not influence later Gothic imagery. Vampires are always seen dancing waltzes from the early 20th century, however, in Polanski's film, the dance is much older: the minuet (1670-1750).

CONTINUARÁ…


	9. Elvira (pre-gothic period)

**THE FIRST GOTHIC PRINCESSES**

 **ELVIRA (PRE-GOTHIC PERIOD)**

Elvira was the stage name for Cassandra Peterson, born September 17, 1951 in the United States.

At the age of 17, She convinced her parents to go to Hollywood where she got small roles in big-budget movies like: Diamonds Are Forever, from the James Bond franchise.

She also traveled abroad where she worked for the director Federico Fellini, and upon her return to America, she worked as a model.

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In 1981 Hollywood producers made a cast to find a hostess for a horror movie show, in which Cassandra Peterson won the role.

The actress and model were given permission to create her own image. At first she suggested the image of Sharon Tate (I imagine herself bathing in the bathtub) from Roman Polanski's vampire film, an idea that was rejected outright, creating the image of a sexy, punk vampire with which she is now known.

The show would be called: Elvira´s Movie Macabre and would premiere in 1981.

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The show was a resounding success like never before seen for such pre-Gothic characters, comparable only two decades ago to the Addams or Munster family series. A lot of diverse material related to the show was economically very profitable.

Among that extra stuff were Elvira's Halloween costumes, which were very popular. Despite this success, Elvira's clothing cannot be considered official clothing for what would later become the Gothic sub-culture, since the future Gothic people who wore these costumes did so as a parody, the same as Bela Lugosi's Dracula costume.

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Elvira's costume is black and tight, but unlike the actresses who preceded her, she has a more than generous cleavage. An aspect with which Elvira's own character jokes: "the girl with the big... nails".

And speaking of nails, these are false and long, but they do not reach the length that Vampira looked like at the time. Her eyelashes are false and huge and accompany a voluminous cut hairstyle, very much in the style of the eighties, totally different from the long and loose hairstyle of the previous pre-Gothic actresses.

The difference that stands out the most, however, is her personality. Like the other pre-Gothic actresses before her, her show, although comedy, has dark and macabre twists, but her personality in general is not grim (Vampira), elegant (Morticia) or maternal (Lily), but rather adopts the style of "teenage girl from the valley", imitating not only that kind of reaction, but also her way of speaking and tone. Besides, jokes are more irreverent and sexual with a double meaning.

Elvira would star in a film in the Gothic period, called Elvira: The Mistress of Darkness', but I will deal with this in a later section.

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Curiosity:

It is clearly the appearance of Elvira, a copy of the one that Vampira had, in fact Maila Nurmi herself, sued the show in court for appropriating her Vampira character, of which she still had all the rights.

Justice ruled in Elvira's favor because Elvira's character did not appropriate the image of Vampira, but represented a similar fictional character. The debate among fans is still going on.

 **CONTINUARÁ…**


	10. Princesses fallen into oblivion

**THE FIRST GOTHIC PRINCESSES**

 **Princesses fallen into oblivion**

Throughout the decades, there were numerous actresses who, to one degree or another, represented characters of various pre-Gothic or macabre hues.

Before moving on to the next section in which we enter fully into the Gothic period, I would like to briefly mention the actresses and films that were surely an inspiration for the future creation of the Gothic culture, but that unfortunately over the years (and decades) their influence is no longer remembered or given the importance it deserves.

Forgive me for not mentioning all the actresses, for such work would be of a colossal nature. I will only mention the most representative cases on both sides of the great pond (aka. Atlantic Ocean)

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BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (April 22, 1935)

Elsa Lanchester (born in the UK in 1902), plays both Mary Shelley and Frankenstein's girlfriend in this American film with Boris Karloff.

The main contribution of the character would be the hairstyle, which would be imitated in a certain way by the character of Lydia Deetz, played by Winona Ryder in 1988.

The stripe of white stripe that runs along the entire side of Frankenstein's bride's hairstyle is also adopted by Lydia Deetz, not in Tim Burton's film, but in the cartoons, in fact the death rock group that Lydia founded, is precisely called: Frankenstein's Brides. Lydia Deetz also wears that kind of white-striped hairstyle on one side for formal events.

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BLACK SUNDAY (August 11, 1960) Original title: La maschera del demonio.

Barbara Steele (born in the UK in 1938), plays in this Italian film the witch Asa Vajda, who was burned at the stake centuries ago and now wishes to absorb the life of Princess Katia Vajda (also played by Barbara Steele) to obtain immortality.

Barbara Steele is considered the Queen of Horror in Europe, even taking part in prestigious horror films such as the American film: The Pendulum of Death/Well and the Pendulum, with Vincent Price in 1961.

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THE WEREWOLF VS THE VAMPIRE WOMAN (May 17, 1971) Original title: La noche de walpurgis.

No, it's not the title of the acclaimed hentai: "The Black Bible: The Night of Walpurgis."

Patty Shepard (born in the United States in 1945), plays in this Spanish film the Countess Wandesa Dárvula de Nadasdy, who is revived and faces a werewolf in the film.

This film is part of a series of films featuring the werewolf. This particular work was a great success in Spain, to such an extent that it began the period of horror films in that country and Patty Shepard's performance was so good that it was thought that it would replace Barbara Steele as the undisputed queen of European terror.

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So far a sample of my personal opinion the best exponents of pre-Gothic actresses and their best films that would lead them to influence the Gothic sub-culture.

Next, I show three other actresses (already beginning the Gothic period itself) in interesting films. The characters they play are close to Gothic and therefore almost Gothic... almost.

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THE HUNGER (April 29, 1983)

Catherine Deneuve (born in France in 1943), plays the vampire Miriam Blaylock, who has as her newborn vampire the singer-songwriter David Bowie, and tries to seduce a young actress played by the great Susan Sarandon, in what may have been her first lesbian role.

This film points to the origin of the Gothic movement in the United States, in fact the music of the opening of the film is from the band Bahaus, which influenced musically the creation of the Gothic culture.

Unfortunately, while the film may be considered somewhat within the gothic aesthetic, the same cannot be said of Miriam Blaylock's character, more than gothic, it actually shows a glamorous snobbish image of Beverly Hills or Malibu.

A curious note is that years later the actress Susan sarandon and Winona Ryder would act together in the film: Little Women of the Year 1994. Curious because it would be Winona Ryder who would play the role of Lydia Deetz, the Gothic girl in Tim Burton's film Beetlejuice.

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CONAN THE DESTROYER (June 29, 1984)

Sarah Douglas (born in the UK in 1952), plays the evil Queen Taramis (it's my imagination or all queens are evil)

This sequel to Conan the Barbarian's film, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, cannot be considered Gothic in any sense, but belongs to the fantasy genre or sword and witchcraft.

The most beautiful but perverse Queen Taramis, however, wears a set of Gothic clothes: fine silks with suggestive and provocative openings when she is in her palace, and a black armor adorned with fine dark furs and a very elegant and delicate cloak despite its sombre appearance.

The character of Taramis, cannot be considered Gothic since her main role is to act as the evil queen in turn who tries to kill the princess later.

A curious note is that Sarah Douglas had already worn black clothes in 1980, more specifically in the film Superman 2, with Christopher Reeve. It's a pity that her interpretation of that time did not focus on the Gothic, but on the villain of the trio with superpowers from Krypton trying to kill Superman.

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LEGEND (28 August 1985)

Mia Sara (born in the United States in 1967), plays Princess Lily, who must be rescued by a young commoner played by Tom Cruise (this plot sounds familiar from several TV, movie and video game franchises).

Legend, can not be considered as Gothic in any sense, but belonging to the genre fantasy or sword and witchcraft.

Princess Lily never acts like a gothic character, except in a very small but memorable part: when the devil finally manages to tempt her, making the princess wear an exquisite gothic dress that is nothing to envy in glamour those who would wear years later the queens of the Snow White franchise and the hunter.

The dance scene when Princess Lily becomes Gothic is sublime, but it doesn't last long and therefore this character cannot be considered Gothic.

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These last three actresses were so close to being the first real gothic princesses, they lacked the penny to make weight, so close and so far... By a bald frog hair!

But don't worry, in the next section the first Gothic princesses will appear, starting with a character, the first one with Gothic characteristics in Tim Burton's films, I mean Lydia Deetz.

The influence that not only this character would have, but also the actress who plays it: Winona Ryder, for the creation of Gothic culture, was something that nobody expected (not even she herself) and that will surely surprise you.

 **CONTINUARÁ…**


	11. LYDIA DEETZ

**THE FIRST GOTHIC PRINCESSES**

 **LYDIA DEETZ**

Winona Ryder is the stage name of Winona Laura Horowitz, born in the United States on October 29, 1971.

This actress of Jewish descent whose roots can be seen as far back as Russia and Romania (Dracula's land, and the greatest Olympic gymnasts: Nadia Komaneci and Andrea Raducan), was always very clear that she wanted to be an actress.

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According to the legend... Yes, because the next part seems to be out of fantasy instead of reality, but it really happened:

When she was very young she wanted to try her acting skills and disguised herself as a boy, going to school afterwards. The children finally hit her on the head and made her bleed because she had a very feminine face, but she achieved her goal: none of them knew she was a girl, so she returned home with the bleeding wound as if it were a glorious war wound.

Her parents enrolled her in the prestigious school of dramatic art: The American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. And some time later she participated in the films: "Lucas" in 1986, where she would play the role of co-star; and then she would participate in the film "Square dance" in 1987, already playing the leading role. Both films and her performance in particular were critically acclaimed, but they were not a box-office success.

It would be her third film that would bring her international fame: Beetlejuice, on March 29-30, 1988. All thanks to three factors:

First, she impressed Tim Burton very much with her performance in the film Lucas; second, Winona Ryder had such a youthful appearance that she could easily play characters much younger than herself, which eliminated the risk of hiring a child actor who didn't know how to perform well in the middle of filming; and third, with her aesthetically perfect face, skin that changed according to the lighting between very white and sickly pale, coupled with the fact that she had huge black eyes that matched such dark hair that nothing had to envy the most popular pre-Gothic actresses, made her the actress to win the casting.

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Director Tim Burton, after directing his first film, which had a very childish aesthetic (like SpongeBob or Jim Carrey's films), wanted to try something new, something that would mix the macabre with comedy, but he wanted to move away from what had previously been done with the Addams or Munster family.

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I have to point out before the Gothic purists point it at me with their middle finger (or with the V of victory but showing me the back of the palm of their hand if they are from the UK), that Tim Burton's film is not a hundred percent Gothic, I would say it has the style: Tim Burton.

Lydia Deetz's character, however, is a hundred percent Gothic. And for those who doubt that she was the first female Gothic character to appear on the big screen, I tell you the following story:

Lydia Deetz wasn't supposed to be Gothic at first! The urban tribe that was in vogue in the early 1980s were the death rockers, immediately prior to the Gothic, as were the beatnicks to the hippies in the 1960s.

Tim Burton took a big risk and chose to leave aside the image of death rocker that Winona Ryder should wear, and instead bet on a new sub-culture, a recent urban tribe that just showed the snout of bats: the English batcavers or Gothic as they called themselves in the United States.

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This was a problem that no one, not even Tim Burton himself, foresaw: What should a Gothic girl look like? It was obvious that she should wear black clothes, but apart from that neither the director nor the producers had any idea exactly what the young actress should look like. It was obvious that their preconceptions and prejudices about this new "urban fashion" had taken them by surprise.

Should they go back to the old concept of a death rocker? Should she dress like Morticia? Turn her into a punk? The project, incredible as it may seem, seemed to be coming to an end for a cause as foolish as the simple choice of costumes.

It would be Winona Ryder herself, who would come up with the solution.

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The bard tells the most inspired nights... That it was the same actress who chose much of the clothes she would wear, in several stores in San Francisco, however, the Gothic fashion was not yet defined and she had to complete the clothing by resorting to old costumes worn by her grandmother. She planned how she should take the whole set in combination and oh muses! The various Gothic costumes that she would wear throughout the filming were born. Lydia Deetz was born.

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Lydia Deetz's name comes from the ancient city of Lydia, which was the first place where coins were made (perhaps an influence on the wealth of the Addams family); on the other hand, the name Deetz, on the other hand, has no meaning, rather it is an aphorism that indicates people who are snobbish with money and who boast their supposed good taste but who fall into ridicule (something right, seeing as Lydia's father and stepmother are).

It was decided that Lydia Deetz would not wear any makeup to separate herself from the previous pre-Gothic actresses. She would wear the hairstyle of the bride of Frankenstein for certain occasions, but not so voluminous and without the white stripe on the side. Her normal hairstyle would be something long and bulky but only shoulder-length, the front would have an elegant High Class style, and the back would fall elegantly in the Booby Cut style.

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Winona Ryder plays a fourteen-year-old girl, who is forced to move from New York to a small town. In the end, however, it is enchanted by the house for a number of reasons: It is Victorian (Gothic); it is located right on top of a high, narrow hill and dominates the view of the surrounding area (an image that would later become popular for haunted houses whether in the cinema, television or video games); and third, it is inhabited by ghosts!

Lydia's character is presented in a very elegant way in the film, sitting on a black couch like a princess or queen. Its Gothic appearance is what most attracts the attention of the ghosts in the house, despite the extravagance of the rest of the family, including a fat guy who invites himself to the move.

Lydia likes the house and shows no aversion to a spider in her web as soon as she gets home. She seems to like photography very much because she has several cameras around her neck, whether they are snapshot cameras or more professional ones to develop them professionally in a dark room, and it is her father who offers to build her a dark room so that she can develop her photographs, which shows that despite her young age she is already very intelligent and mature.

The elegant attitude of the principle is seen as a shield for a girl who is afraid of living in a new place, in addition to being depressed in character, perhaps accentuated by the death of her mother and having a father who is obsessed with work and who does not have (and does not want to) share time with her.

Her relationship with her stepmother is not the best, the woman is simply an insufferable snob who has no intention of getting along with her. Interestingly, both have a macabre taste for art, yet Lydia's tastes are classic and Gothic, while those of her stepmother are modern and contemporary.

Because of the bad relationship she has with her family, she needs a lot of affection and does not hesitate to accept the friendship of the ghosts of the house. These at first try to scare her but she, because she is Gothic, is not afraid of what would scare others, as the ghosts themselves tell her: "At your age a ghost would have frightened me". This shows Lydia's Gothic character as even at first she is hopeful of seeing ghosts full of blood and pus.

Lydia Deetz is very perceptive and therefore does not believe the lies of the evil ghost Beetlejuice tells her.

Artistically, Lydia is a fan of opera as she listens to Maria Callas, the greatest opera singer in a play with a clear Gothic touch: Lucía de Lammermoor, as she writes her suicide letter!

Depressed, she decides to kill herself by throwing herself into the same river where the previous inhabitants of the house died, but when she meets Beetlejuice she decides to make a deal with him (something that is not seen in the film but is supposed to be), the ghost will kill her so that she can meet her ghost friends who apparently left the house in the afterlife.

Although she is insecure in her attitude towards her parents' snobby friends, she later shows the greatest courage and sacrifice of all to save her ghost friends by agreeing to marry Beetlejuice, knowing that the evil poltergeist's intentions towards her are not at all romantic.

At the end of the film you can see a more determined Lydia, although she doesn't give up her Gothic fashion, since underneath her regular school skirt, she wears a black skirt... the same one she personally chose from her grandmother's old clothes.

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The film was an international success, so much so that its aesthetics would be the one adopted by Tim Burton from now on, and it catapulted Winona Ryder to world fame. But undoubtedly the most important aspect is the fact that she has contributed so much to the creation and establishment of the Gothic culture, an aspect which she herself is certainly not aware of.

Universal Pictures created several theme parks for Tim Burton's film in various countries, one of which was Japan. And here's an interesting point:

The Japanese were influenced by the character of Lydia Deetz and created their own Gothic style: The Gothic lolita, which takes two main variations, the one based on the old dolls of the early 20th century but with short skirts; and the more classic one with long skirts, clearly influenced by Winona Ryder and her character Lydia Deetz.

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Lydia's lines:

Delia hates the house (then looks closely at the spider). I could live here.

My life is a darkroom, a big darkroom.

The living ignore the rare and unusual. I'm myself strange and unusual.

I'm alone, absolutely alone.

But I want to die too.

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Curiosities:

At first Winona Ryder did not want to play Beetlejuice, she considered it too "satanic". And she's not to blame, the original script differs greatly from the script used for the filming, as it is completely horror-cut, with mutilations to her character and even suffered a rape.

Lydia Deetz's various costumes are to this day among the most sought-after on Halloween, with several online and physical stores selling them and even video tutorials on how to make up as the gothic girl in the movie.

The red wedding dress that Winona Ryder wears is the most popular at Halloween parties, according to polls.

The two most popular characters in the film, Lydia Deetz and Beetlejuice, were cartooned. The cartoon series, although it takes place in a macabre atmosphere, is lighter than the film, for example Lydia, is still Gothic but her personality is no longer so depressing and suicidal.

In the cartoons, Lydia founds the death rock band: Frankenstein's girlfriends. Funny because Lydia in the original script wasn't Gothic but a death rocker.

The famous actress Juliette Lewis auditioned to be Lydia Deetz, but the role fell to Winona Ryder.

 **CONTINUARÁ…**


	12. Elvira (gothic period)

**THE FIRST GOTHIC PRINCESSES**

 **ELVIRA (Gothic period)**

Let's remember that in one of the previous sections, I referred to Elvira (a sui generis case that lies between the pre-Gothic and the Gothic), the presenter of horror movies series B, who had reached American fame with her show for television: Elvira´s movie macabre, in 1981.

But international success was lacking, a film was needed. Unfortunately, the actress Maila Nurmi, who played Vampira decades ago, had sued the producers of Elvira's show for appropriating her image without her consent.

The lawsuit delayed the project of the film and when in the end everything was aired in Elvira's favour, no matter how much haste they had, in the end the film was released a few months after Tim Burton's film: Beetlejuice (Beetlejuice - March 30, 1988; Elvira, mistress of the dark - September 30, 1988).

Unlike the studio war between The Addams and the Munster family, in the case of Tim Burton's film and Elvira's film, there was no confrontation, it was simply a coincidence that both were released the same year.

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The film would be called: Elvira, mistress of the dark. In which, the protagonist in order to collect an inheritance, travels to a small town where the inhabitants are xenophobic to the core and make her life impossible.

In the end, Elvira saves the people (and perhaps the whole world) by confronting the true villain played by the well-known actor: William Morgan Sheppard, who under a mask of a respectable citizen and pillar of the community, hides his satanic nature.

At the end of the film, Elvira looks at the screen and says goodbye with her famous phrase: " May you have sweet nightmares ".

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For the project it was not necessary for Elvira to change clothes or personality. With what the film may well be described as a family comedy, however, just as in her show, the irreverent, two-way jokes with sexual content and unexpected horror scenes are present in the filming, which would eventually catapult Elvira's character to international fame.

An interesting aspect of the film is that Cassandra Peterson would take advantage of her previous experience in showgirl and dancer work to give us one of the most memorable scenes at the end of the film.

Elvira achieves her dream of dancing in a Vegas show. The show itself is an erotic dance, with good taste but with very dynamic and aggressive characteristics, something that would never have been dreamt of by any of the pre-Gothic actresses that preceded her and that only Cassandra would dare to perform, achieving total success in the process.

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Since in this work I consider the year 1982 to determine what is encased in the pre-Gothic of the Gothic itself. And considering that Lydia Deetz appeared almost six months before Elvira on the big screen, I can conclude that Elvira ranks second among the first Gothic princesses. Bad luck, Elvira, but second place isn't bad, not bad at all.

Long live to the Mistress of the Dark!

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Curiosities:

Elvira would produce a sequel: Elvira´s haunted hills in 2001, which is practically a parody of the old films of the English company Hammer, specializing in horror and vampire films with Christopher Lee (who played several times Dracula, Lord of the Rings' Sauron, and Count Doku in Star Wars).

Elvira had a couple of games, the most popular without a doubt: "Elvira 2: jaws of cerberus", a puzzle and horror game by the company Horror Soft, distributed by Accoelade in the 90's, the golden decade of computer games with their graphic adventures and more like the present game.

 **CONTINUARÁ…**


	13. Nancy Downs

**THE FIRST GOTHIC PRINCESSES**

 **NANCY DOWNS**

Fairuza Balk is the stage name of Fairuza Alejandra Feldthouse, born in the United States in 1974.

From the age of six he participated in small roles in both North America and Europe, eventually becoming the star of major productions such as the disturbing Disney sequel to the Wizard of Oz: Return to Oz; or the star of the TV series: The Worst Witch. However, her fame would come with the film: The craft, on May 3, 1996.

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In the film The Craft, Fairuza Balk plays Nancy Downs, a Gothic teenager who is the leader of her group of friends, who discover that a newcomer to the school where they study is the key to their magical powers. Once the quartet of girls is formed, they begin to perform magical rituals that work, the most spectacular of which is to heal the severe burns of one of the members played by the beautiful actress Neve Campbell.

Since the original trio of friends were bullied by the rest of the school, they decide to take revenge and misuse their powers, which is censored by the newcomer.

There is a confrontation and Nancy is defeated along with her two friends, who end up losing their powers, a fate not as bad as Nancy's, who went mad and is now locked up in a psychiatric hospital.

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Although the original trio of friends can be classified as Gothic, it is Nancy Downs, who stands out more for her clearly Gothic attire than her friends who wear them in a much more concealed way.

Nancy Downs' clothing leaves aside the pre-Gothic costumes worn by as many actresses as Vampira, Morticia, Lily or Elvira; it also departs from the classic Gothic dress created by Winona Ryder for her Lydia Deetz character.

Nancy Downs has a more modern look that is accompanied by make-up on her face, in short, the modern image that society has of Gothic people today.

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There were probably actresses who played Gothic roles in television or movies in the eight-year period from Lydia Deetz and Elvira's films to The Craft. However, I consider Fairuza Balk to be the third first Gothic princess, since the film The Craft (art) was so successful that it definitively cemented society's concept of Gothic.

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Curiosities:

The spells that girls practice are strongly inspired by Wicca, a neo-pagan religion. In fact, in Wicca it is called knowledge and magical rituals: The Craft.

The film The Craf was so successful that it was the inspiration for the famous television series Charmed in 1998, in which the famous actress Alyssa Milano would participate.

Fairuza Balk, not only did she play a dark character with Nancy Downs. In later roles she always looked for such characters since she is Gothic in real life.

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Final curious note: And so I end this work, right in chapter 13... May you have sweet nightmares.

 **FIN**


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